At Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), members are part of our family. This week, we are featuring Jeff Donnelly and Nancy Wolcott. Besides being founding members, both have supported the museum since 2000, when the museum was then known as Miami Art Museum (MAM).

What drew you to PAMM? 
We are founding members of PAMM because we support art in Miami. We admired the beautiful building as it went up, sitting on the bay with its echoes of Stiltsville, and were eager to see the finished project. 

Have you been able to Visit PAMM since its reopening? 
No, we are staying away from enclosed public spaces during the pandemic.

What do you do? Has this changed in 2020? 
Jeff taught history at Miami Country Day School and the University of Miami. Nancy was an administrator at New World School of the Arts. We have both been retired for some time.

Are there any current podcast, books, or music you’d suggest reading or listening to right now? 
Jeff is rereading Edmund Morgan’s “American Slavery, American Freedom” and Nancy is reading “Jack” by Marilynne Robinson, a superb novel. On Thursday afternoons, we read Shakespeare aloud with a small group of friends (via zoom), and enjoy finding much that’s relevant today.

Have you attempted any at home recipes? How’d it turn out? What is your go-to takeout order? 
No new recipes — we are eating lots of comfort food. We take out pizza, of course, and for special occasions, stone crab dinners from Joe’s.

How do you think art speaks to our current moment and why do you feel it’s important? 
Talented and creative people are best able to express what a pandemic means to human beings. Art opens new worlds, and that is really essential now when our physical boundaries have narrowed.

What do you love most about PAMM? 
We like the pleasing scale of the galleries and we appreciate the outstanding ways in which PAMM educates patrons about the art on display. PAMM has broadened our interest in contemporary art that was initially unfamiliar to us.

What have been some of your favorite shows/events? 
Among our favorites: Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Surrounded Islands, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida, 1980-83 | A Documentary Exhibition; Art of the African Diaspora; and Dennis Sholl’s collection show, No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting. We especially liked Curated Coffee with Jamilah Sabur and María Elena Ortiz, and the rich artist talk and work by Teresita Fernández.

What do you envision for PAMM in the future? 
We look forward to exhibitions that express the ethnic and cultural composition of Miami.

What is a phrase or mantra that you live by? And what are you hoping for in 2021? 
“You never know.” We look forward to social gatherings and to people being able to return to work.

Want to be featured in a future PAMM Member Profile? Connect with us at members@pamm.org.